Ministry of Justice

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions have been brought by local authorities under the Highways Act 1980 against motorists seeking to charge electric vehicles on the street.

Lord Bellamy: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions for criminal offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tools.Offences covered include the offence of ‘other obstruction, waiting and parking offences’, where this offence is most likely to be covered. However, to identify whether the prosecutions are for charging electric vehicles on the street specifically would require examination of individual court records, which would be of disproportionate costs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fly-tipping: Fines

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given toincreasing the fixed-penalty fine for fly-tipping to a maximum of £2,000.

Lord Douglas-Miller: Under the Prime Minister’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan, the Government recently raised the upper limit on the fixed penalty notices councils can issue to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier. This reflects the increased severity with which the Government views these crimes and allows councils to take tougher action against fly-tippers. We will continue to work with local authorities to assess the impacts of these changes. There are no plans to increase the fixed penalty levels further at this time. Local authorities also have powers to stop, search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers and to prosecute offenders, which can lead to an unlimited fine or imprisonment if convicted in court.

Animals: UK Internal Trade

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government when the suspension of movement of ruminant animals from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be lifted.

Lord Douglas-Miller: Movements can only resume when the conditions of the importing authority, as set out in their export certification, can be met. We will take action to ensure that any additional restrictions imposed on exports are minimised and proportionate to the low risks involved.

Bluetongue Disease

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of Bluetongue virus have been verified in Great Britain.

Lord Douglas-Miller: As of the 20 February, 112 Bluetongue serotype 3 cases have been found in England on 64 premises in 3 counties. This comprises 106 cases in cattle and 6 cases in sheep. The latest case figures and information are available online at GOV.UK.

Animals: Bluetongue Disease

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government why ruminant animals can move within Great Britain despite Bluetongue virus in Kent, but cannot be moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The findings of Bluetongue in England means that Great Britain is no longer recognised as free of Bluetongue disease and is therefore unable to export live susceptible animals.

River Thames: Flood Control

Lord Stone of Blackheath: To ask His Majesty's Government, further tothe Written Answer byLord Douglas-Miller on 14 February (HL1609), what assessment they have made of the adequacy of planned flood protection for Shepperton, Sunbury and Walton-on-Thames under the River Thames Scheme currently going through consultation,given the flooding in 2014 and 2024.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The River Thames Scheme is currently carrying out Statutory consultation on its proposals. The consultation has included public events in Shepperton, Walton and Sunbury where over 1,000 people attended and spoke with members of the project team. The proposals include building a new channel that will significantly reduce the risk of flooding between Staines and Shepperton. The scheme also includes proposals to increase the capacity of the weirs on the Thames at Teddington, Molesey and Sunbury along with lowering the bed of the Thames near Walton. The weir capacity is being increased as much as possible and this will achieve some reduction in risk downstream of Shepperton along the Thames. The level of risk reduction is different in each location. The level of flood risk reduction that will be achieved is available for everyone to see as part of the consultation. The results are set out in detail in the Modelling report for the scheme which can be found at: RTS Modelling non-technical summary (see attached).RTS Modelling non-technical summary (pdf, 6480.0KB)

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Lord Krebs: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number ofbadgers that will be killed in (1) Oxfordshire, and (2) England, in 2024 as part of the bovine tuberculosis control programme.

Lord Douglas-Miller: No estimate has been made on the number of badgers to be removed in Oxfordshire and England in 2024, as part of our bovine tuberculosis eradication strategy. The minimum and maximum numbers for each licensed cull area will be published in due course.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination

Lord Krebs: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their target for the number of badgers to be vaccinated against bovine tuberculosis in England in 2024.

Lord Douglas-Miller: There is no specific target number for badger vaccination in 2024. In 2023, just over 3,000 badgers were vaccinated in England. This was the highest annual number vaccinated since the vaccine was authorised in 2010. Whilst we expect numbers to increase this year, the absolute number vaccinated will depend on which areas are targeted and factors such as weather and annual changes in badger populations.

Livestock Worrying: Fines

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to increase the financial penalty for the crime of livestock worrying by dogs to ensure there is a serious deterrent for dog owners.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause animals and their keepers. The Government is supporting a Private Members’ Bill to amend the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. The Bill will improve police powers to enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively and to act as a deterrent. Livestock worrying is principally a crime of negligence, not of intent. Those found guilty of committing an offence face a penalty of a maximum fine of £1,000. The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill will maintain this maximum penalty.

Pesticides: Licensing

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government how many users of plant protection products have registered under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.

Lord Douglas-Miller: To date we have 21,682 users registered under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020. The number is increasing in response to recent communication. We are considering how we can further increase uptake through engagement with industry assurance schemes.

Seed Potatoes: Northern Ireland

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government, following publication of the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper (CP 1021) on 31 January, whether seed potatoes can now be moved by professional operators in Great Britain to consumers in Northern Ireland.

Lord Douglas-Miller: Under the Windsor Framework’s Northern Ireland (NI) Plant Health Label scheme, previously banned seed potatoes are once again available to move to NI from other parts of the UK. Noting the high health status of seed potatoes, they must move between professional operators, which include farmers, growers and gardeners. Once planted in NI, the new crop of seed potatoes can be sold with no restrictions. This reflects long standing arrangements for biosecurity within Great Britain (GB) and NI and the need to protect the high plant health status in NI. As stated in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, we will engage with the farming and horticultural industry to resolve any remaining issues for the movement of plant products, including seed potatoes, between GB and NI.

Home Office

Home Office: Written Questions

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Sharpe of Epsom on 10 January (HL1252), whether they will now answer the question put; namely,what assessment they have made of the number of children likely to be separated from a British parent as a result of the increase to the salary threshold to £38,700 for those applying for spousal or partner visas.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Minimum Income Requirement will initially rise to £29,000 on 11 April 2024, with incremental rises at later dates. A full impact assessment will be published in due course, and we will continue to monitor the policy throughout its implementation. The Immigration Rules also contain provisions for parents of qualifying children to obtain permission to enter or remain in the UK.

Female Genital Mutilation: Prosecutions

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many female genital mutilation offences were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023; and of those, how many prosecutions have occurred.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Stewart of Dirleton on 29 March 2023 (HL6584),when the government-funded feasibility study on the prevalence of female genital mutilation and forced marriage in England and Wales will be published.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Since April 2019, the Home Office has required police forces to provide quarterly data returns on the number of offences they have recorded as being related to ‘honour’-based abuse, which includes FGM. In October 2023, the Home Office published the fourth set of these annual statistics, which included 84 offences relating to FGM covering the year to March 2023. Data on prosecutions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recorded one offence which was charged by the police under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. This was discontinued at its first hearing due to an incorrect charge submitted by the police. Separately, in October 2023, a defendant was found guilty of aiding the female genital mutilation of a non-UK person contrary to section 3 of the Act. This defendant was originally charged in 2018.In April 2023, the Home Office commissioned the University of Birmingham to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether it is possible to produce a robust prevalence estimate of FGM and forced marriage. This work is ongoing and decisions about next steps will be taken in due course.

Department for Business and Trade

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Tata Steel's decision to close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant on (1) UK primary steel production, and (2) the UK defence industry.

Lord Offord of Garvel: HMG have agreed to invest a historic £500 million at Port Talbot as part of Tata Steel's £1.25bn plan to transition to Electric Arc Furnace production.Following the transformation, the company's modelling suggests the business will be able to produce 90% of its existing order book through the new Electric Arc Furnace. Moving to EAF production will also enable them to satisfy demand from customers who are demanding more green steel.Tata Steel's plans to cease UK primary steel production at its Port Talbot steelworks are not anticipated to adversely impact defence. Specialist steels that are unavailable from UK sources are already procured by our prime contractors from overseas suppliers. Other grades of steel are likely to remain available from UK sources or are widely available on world markets.

Trade Agreements: Nigeria

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that theEnhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) with Nigeria supports (1) stable economic development, (2) job creation, and (3) investment sectors of mutual interest.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) builds on the previous UK-Nigeria Economic and Development Forum (EDF) and is a non-legally binding arrangement. The ETIP aims to promote technical cooperation, dialogue and best-practice sharing on areas of mutual interest, for example, through standalone commitments on clean growth and investment. Both sides are committed to making the partnership a success through implementation via joint working groups.The ETIP aims to promote stable economic development and job creation in both economies, building on our already strong trading relationship with Nigeria, which totalled £6.7 billion in the 12 months to September 2023.

Ministry of Defence

Navy

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government how many warships are available to the Royal Navy, and how many officers of the rank of rear admiral and above.

The Earl of Minto: As at 16 February 2024, the Royal Navy has 29 warships of which there are 20 available. The warship numbers included are: Offshore Patrol Vessels, Frigates, Destroyers, Aircraft Carriers and Landing Platform (Docks). There are currently 14 officers of the rank of Rear Admiral and above serving in Navy Command. There are an additional 27 serving across the MOD, as well as other Government Departments and NATO, at the time of the most recently published figures (October 2023). The figures for the number of officers at the rank of Rear Admiral and above are taken from the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics available at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2023

Department of Health and Social Care

Nurses: Training

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the underlying cause of the fall in each of the past three years in applications to university nursing courses, as reported by the Financial Times on 15 February, and what action they are taking to reverse the trend.

Lord Markham: The drop in nursing applicants follows unprecedented demand for healthcare courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of applicants continues to outstrip the places on offer. Nursing training places are competitive, and lead to an attractive and important career in the National Health Service.We are working closely with NHS England, universities and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to ensure everyone who wants to pursue a rewarding healthcare career in nursing has the support and opportunities to do so.

Coeliac Disease: National Clinical Directors

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made, if any, of the potential merits of a National Clinical Director for coeliac disease.

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville: To ask His Majesty's Government whichNHS National Clinical Director, if any, is responsible for coeliac disease.

Lord Markham: NHS England has invested in senior clinical leadership in gastroenterology as a workstream in the national Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme as one of its priority workstreams, which includes coeliac disease.To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of coeliac disease, and improve the diagnostic pathway nationally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the recognition, assessment and management of coeliac disease [NG20]. A copy of the guidance is attached.NICE guidelines represent best practice, and healthcare professionals, including general practitioners, and service commissioners are expected to take them fully into account. Guidelines published by NICE are not mandatory and do not replace the judgement of clinicians in determining the most appropriate treatment for individual patients.To assist with increasing the visibility of coeliac disease, NICE promotes guidance via its website, newsletters and other media. It also publishes information for the public, which explains the care people with coeliac disease should receive as set out in the NICE guideline.Information for the public on coeliac disease is also published by the National Health Service and is available on its website in an online-only format.NICE guideline [NG20] - coeliac disease (pdf, 152.5KB)

Continuing Care: Finance

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have toreview the system and operation of Continuing Health Care funding.

Lord Markham: In England, the Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation which includes the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached. The Department has no plans at this time to review the system or operation of CHC in England but we continue to work with our partners, including NHS England which is responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, external organisations and people with lived experience, to monitor CHC implementation.National Framework for CHC (pdf, 1299.6KB)

Dementia: Continuing Care

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they will take to ensure that the cognitive and behavioural needs of dementia sufferers are properly reflected when deciding Continuing Health Care funding.

Lord Markham: In England, eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of an individual’s needs, including ways in which these needs interact with one another.When an individual is identified as potentially eligible for CHC, the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care sets out the process for determining whether they have a ‘primary health need’. This includes assessment by a multidisciplinary team using a tool that has been developed to identify an individual’s needs and aid consistent decision making. A copy of the framework is attached.National Framework for CHC (pdf, 1299.6KB)

Continuing Care

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure consistency of approach when applying Continuing Health Care funding.

Lord Markham: In England, the Department has provided detailed guidance on the process for determining eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) through the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached. The framework supports practitioners across health and social care to undertake assessments and deliver CHC.Operational delivery of CHC is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) with oversight from NHS England. NHS England holds ICBs accountable and engages with them to ensure that they discharge their functions, including via timely and well-established assurance mechanisms.National Framework for CHC (pdf, 1299.6KB)

Continuing Care: Finance

Lord Crisp: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the financial value of support provided to patients through NHS Continuing Healthcare scheme in each of the past two financial years.

Lord Markham: The cost of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) to NHS England was £4.42 billion in 2022/23 and £4.27 billion in 2021/22. This includes Standard and Fast Track CHC, and the personal health budgets relating to these costs. These figures do not include costs for joint funded packages of care, children’s continuing care, assessments and support, or any other CHC related costs.

Continuing Care: Costs

Lord Crisp: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost in NHS and social services staff time and resources in administering NHS Continuing Healthcare, and undertaking the necessary patient assessments, in each of the past two financial years.

Lord Markham: The Department does not collect data on the cost of administering NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) or undertaking CHC assessments.

Cabinet Office

Inquiries

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 8 February (HL1937),whether they will list the 19 non-statutory and 23 statutory inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005, along with the (1) length, (2), cost, and (3) sponsoring department, for each of those inquiries.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Cabinet Office collects data on the duration and cost of inquiries from departments, inquiries’ own reports, and other publicly available information.We have provided details on all statutory and non-statutory inquiries established since 2005 in the table below.In some cases, information in the table below has come from reports from outside the Government. We have not included the costs for ongoing inquiries, which are published at different frequencies on inquiry or departmental websites, and we have not included the details for any investigations commissioned by NHS England (some of which were counted in the total number of non-statutory inquiries in our previous response, answered on 8th February 2024, UIN HL1937). It has been noted where the publicly available information provides the cost excluding VAT.InquirySponsor DepartmentLegislative BasisYear establishedDuration in months (from announcement to publication of final report)Reported final costs where publicly availableJalal Uddin InquiryHOInquiries Act 20052023Ongoing-Cranston InquiryDfTNon-statutory2023Ongoing-Andrew Malkinson InquiryMoJNon-statutory2023Ongoing-Thirlwall InquiryDHSCInquiries Act 20052023Ongoing-Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombingNIOInquiries Act 20052023Ongoing-Independent inquiry relating to AfghanistanMinistry of DefenceInquiries Act 20052022Ongoing-Dawn Sturgess InquiryHOInquiries Act 20052022Ongoing-Fuller InquiryDHSCNon-statutory2022Ongoing-Angiolini InquiryHONon-statutory2022Ongoing-UK Covid-19 InquiryCabinet OfficeInquiries Act 20052022Ongoing-Lampard InquiryDHSCInquiries Act 20052021Ongoing-Jermaine Baker inquiryHOInquiries Act 2005202029£4.1mPost Office Horizon IT inquiryDBTInquiries Act 20052020Ongoing-Manchester Arena inquiryHOInquiries Act 2005201941£35.6mBrook House InquiryHOInquiries Act 2005201946£18.7mThe Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety ReviewDepartment of HealthNon-statutory201829£1.7mIndependent Inquiry into the issues raised by Ian PatersonDepartment of HealthNon-statutory201826£1.9mGrenfell Tower InquiryCabinet OfficeInquiries Act 20052017Ongoing-Infected Blood InquiryCabinet OfficeInquiries Act 20052017Ongoing-Independent inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and its subsequent terminationBEISNon-statutory201748[unknown]Anthony Grainger InquiryHOInquiries Act 2005201640£2.6mThe Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual AbuseHOInquiries Act 2005201599£192.7m (as of Dec 2022)Undercover Policing InquiryHOInquiries Act 20052015Ongoing-Gosport Independent PanelDepartment of HealthNon-statutory201442£13mThe Litvinenko InquiryHO, FCO and 3 x Intelligence AgenciesInquiries Act 2005201418£2.4m (exc. VAT)Harris Review / Independent review of self-inflicted deaths of young adults in custody aged between 18 and 24MoJNon-statutory201417£0.2mThe Morecambe Bay Maternity and Neonatal Services InvestigationDepartment of HealthNon-statutory201318£1.1mDaniel Morgan Independent PanelHONon-statutory201397£17.6mThe Leveson InquiryDCMS and HOInquiries Act 2005201116£5.4mThe Azelle Rodney InquiryMoJInquiries Act 2005201040£2.6mMid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry 2013 / The Francis InquiryDepartment of HealthInquiries Act 2005201036£13.7mThe Detainee InquiryCabinet OfficeNon-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)201045£2.3m (exc. VAT)The Hillsborough Independent PanelHONon-statutory200933Less than £5mThe Al Sweady InquiryMoDInquiries Act 2005200961£24.9m (exc. VAT)Independent Inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust January 2001 – March 2009Department of HealthNon-statutory20097-The Iraq Inquiry / The Chilcot InquiryCabinet Office, FCO, DfIDNon-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)200985£13.1mThe Bernard (Sonny) Lodge InquiryMoJInquiries Act 2005200910£0.4mThe Baha Mousa InquiryMoDInquiries Act 2005200839£13mInquiry into Human Tissue Analysis in UK Nuclear Facilities / Redfern InquiryDTI - BERR - DECCNon-statutory200743-Contaminated Blood and Blood Products InquiryDepartment of HealthNon-statutory200748£75k

Labour Force Survey

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS labour force survey is reliable and accurate.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority. The Lord Taylor of WarwickHouse of LordsLondonSW1A 0PW 21 February 2024Dear Lord Taylor, As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS) is reliable and accurate (HL2453). Following the suspension of publishing LFS estimates and micro-data in October 2023 because of quality concerns, the ONS put a comprehensive plan [1] in place to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS estimates and micro-data. The plan covers both data collection measures and methods used to make the survey estimates more representative of the UK population. The planned improvements to data collection procedures were implemented in October/November 2023. These included the prioritisation of interviewer resource allocated to the LFS, the reintroduction of in-home interviewing, recontacting households that did not respond, and increasing the monetary incentive to participate. Furthermore, at the start of January we have increased the number of households we initially contact on the survey by 8,000 up to 25,800 for the quarter of January to March 2024. The combination of measures has already resulted in an increase in the achieved sample and we plan to maintain these measures for the foreseeable future. As part of the improvements to our methods used to make the survey estimates more representative [2], the ONS have produced UK population projections specifically for the purpose of the LFS. This used 2022-based population projections for England and Wales combined with population estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Additionally, we have reviewed and where appropriate adjusted the estimation method for the LFS to account for the challenges of low response levels in certain areas. Both the improvements to data collection operations and methods to improve representativeness had a positive impact on the quality and reliability of the LFS data and enabled the ONS to reintroduce the publication of LFS-based estimates and micro-data from 13 February 2024. As we expect to continue to see higher volatility in LFS data in the short term than might historically have been the case, we continue to advise users to apply caution when observing short-term changes in the survey-based estimates. As well as this, the commentary we publish alongside our statistics bulletins should also be considered. While we are working hard to improve our LFS-based data, it remains our plan to make the transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) our main measure for the UK labour market. The TLFS is an online-first survey that asks many more people about their employment status. While early returns from this survey look positive, we need a longer consistent time series to aid interpretation before we share these data with users. We expect the TLFS to become the primary source for the labour market release in September 2024. Yours sincerely,Professor Sir Ian Diamond [1] Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction, ONS article, 2 November 2023,https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/labourforcesurveyplannedimprovementsanditsreintroduction [2] Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024, ONS article, 5 February 2024,https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/impactofreweightingonlabourforcesurveykeyindicators/2024UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 110.6KB)

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Property Development: Energy

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made, if any, of the incentives required to encourage housing developers to join a voluntary energy-use monitoring scheme.

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce mandatory energy performance testing for new homes.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: We are committed to ensuring that good quality homes are built which meet the energy efficiency standards they were designed to. That is why, as part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation, we are consulting on introducing a post-occupancy fabric performance testing scheme for new homes.We are proposing that developers opt-in to performance testing a proportion of their new homes. This would enable us to gather better data on how significantly new homes are underperforming.We envisage that many developers will opt-in to the performance testing scheme and have been encouraged by work some developers are already doing to monitor and improve the actual performance of their homes.

Treasury

Halifax Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group: Fraud

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 5 February (HL1819),when Dame Linda Dobbs’ review into Lloyds Banking Group and HBOS Reading began; what period is covered by the review; when the review is due to be completed; when the review is expected to be completed; whether, and if so when, an interim report was published and how many victims of the fraud committed by six then employees of HBOS Reading have given evidence.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Dame Linda Dobbs Review was commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group, so HM Treasury is not in a position to answer questions on the scope and timing of the Review. You can find information about the review on its website (https://www.dobbsreview.com/), where an update was published earlier this month, and which has information on how to contact the Review. When complete, the findings of the Dame Linda Dobbs Review will be shared with the FCA. The FCA will then consider whether further action is appropriate.

Vacancies: Employment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics on 13 February, what steps they are taking toaddress factors contributing to the recent slowing down of job vacancies and employment growth.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: At the Autumn Statement, the government announced a new Back to Work Plan worth over £2.5 billion to expand employment support for the long-term sick and disabled, and the long-term unemployed. These groups face some of the biggest barriers to entering the labour market, and the government is committed to helping them look for and stay in work, if they are able. The Back to Work Plan builds on the landmark £7 billion employment package from Spring Budget 2023. The OBR judge that the combined impacts of the Spring Budget 2023 and Autumn Statement 2023 policy measures will increase the number of people in employment by around 200,000, permanently increasing the size of the economy. More broadly, a growing economy gives businesses the confidence to invest and hire, creating opportunities for better-paid jobs and to spread opportunity across the country. The government is delivering long-term growth with ambitious policies at successive fiscal events, including making full expensing permanent, a tax cut to companies of over £10bn a year. According to the OBR, the combined impact of Autumn Statement and Spring Budget policies in 2023 are expected to permanently increase the size of the economy by 0.5% by the end of the forecast. Other forecasters, including the Bank of England and the IMF, agree that growth in the UK will strengthen over the next few years.

Economic Situation

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Goldman Sachs which found that the economy is five per cent smaller than it would have been if the UK had remained within the European Union.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: It is for the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to provide independent and authoritative analysis and forecasting for the UK public finances. The Government makes no assessment of analysis conducted by banks or other independent organisations.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given toextending the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to other food and drink products that are high in sugar.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The primary aim of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) is to encourage producers to remove added sugar from soft drinks. It has been very successful in this aim, with a reduction of sugar in soft drinks of 46% between 2015 and 2020. There are no current plans to extend SDIL to other food and drink products. As with all taxes, the Government keeps SDIL under constant review and welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.

Women and Equalities

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government why they will not nominate a candidate to the elections for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and what assessment they have made of the risk for the United Kingdom's reputation as a champion for women.

Baroness Barran: Ministers consider a range of factors when deciding whether to nominate a UK candidate for election to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including the time and resources to mount a campaign, the potential benefits and the impact on other international elections. This Government is committed to championing the rights of women and girls both domestically and internationally. Our leadership is demonstrated through the progress we have made on tackling violence against women and girls, launching the Women's Health Strategy and our International Women and Girls Strategy, published last year.

Leader of the House of Lords

Government Departments: Written Questions

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House, with regard to the 19 questions for written answer that remained unanswered after 10 working days on 12 February, how many of theanswering bodies have not sent an apology to the questioner for the delay in responding.

Lord True: As Leader of the House, I take my duty to represent the House to His Majesty’s Government with the utmost seriousness. Central to this is ensuring that Peers have their questions answered in a timely fashion by all departments. Over the recent months, I have reminded all Front Bench Ministers of their duty to respond to Written Questions within the 10 day target.In addition to this, my Office routinely contacts departments who have breached this target to ascertain the reasons why their deadlines have been missed. As an indication of how seriously I have taken this issue, I have also written to the Permanent Secretaries of departments and met individually with Front Bench Ministers who repeatedly miss the target.I believe an apology is appropriate in such circumstances, but that it is a matter for each individual department to determine.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Nuclear Power

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the financial and other benefits of new nuclear energy capacity in contrast with new wind capacity.

Lord Callanan: The Department’s analysis published in 2020 showed that most of the UK’s future electricity needs should be met from renewables and flexible technologies, including energy storage and demand side response. But it also demonstrated that to achieve a stable, low-cost electricity system and meet Net Zero, we need more low-carbon, firm power such as nuclear to complement the intermittency of technologies like wind and solar and the uncertainties of storage technologies.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modelling-2050-electricity-system-analysis The Government’s Carbon Budget 6 (CB6) trajectory also suggests that we will need to build all low carbon technologies at, or close to, their maximum technical limit, to meet the twin challenge of accelerating decarbonisation and servicing increased demand – that is why we have set out bold plans to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear by 2050, alongside our ambitions for 50GW offshore wind by 2030, the development of onshore wind where it enjoys the backing of local communities, and 70GW solar by 2035.Modelling 2050 – electricity system analysis (pdf, 4014.3KB)

Oil and Natural Gas: Employment

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence base they have used for their claim that the oil and gas industry supports 200,000 jobs, which subsectors are represented by that figure, and how many of those are (1) wholly, and (2) majority, reliant on the oil and gas industry.

Lord Callanan: The impact assessment for the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill uses figures from Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) 2022 annual workforce insights report to show how many jobs are supported by the Oil and Gas sector in the UK. This report highlights that there were approximately 200,000 jobs supported by the industry in 2021 and the report includes a breakdown of jobs by sector, and whether they are direct, indirect or induced.Offshore Energies UK Workforce Insights (pdf, 11027.6KB)

Wylfa Power Station

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the economic and other benefits of pursuing a large-scale nuclear project at Wylfa, Ynys Mon.

Lord Callanan: In the Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the Government committed to exploring a further Gigawatt-scale project after SZC. Wylfa is a possible site for such a project, but the Government has not yet made a decision on where such a project would be located and so has not carried out an assessment of the economic impact it would have at that location. However, by comparison, Hinkley Point C supports 10,000 jobs during construction and will support 900 permanent jobs during its 60 years of operation.

National Grid: Infrastructure

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to speed up the process for connecting infrastructure projects to the National Grid, following reports that UK energy companies are taking their investments abroad.

Lord Callanan: The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network connections and halve the end-to-end build time for new transmission network infrastructure. The Connections Action Plan, published in November 2023, aims to reduce transmission connection delays from 5 years to no more than 6 months after the date requested by the customer and release over 100 Gigawatts of network capacity. Projects that are able to connect faster are already being offered earlier connection dates, including 10 Gigawatts of battery storage being offered an average of a four year advance in their connection.

Refineries: Grangemouth

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of Grangemouth Refinery on UK energy self-sufficiency.

Lord Callanan: The owners of Grangemouth refinery, Petroineos, recently announced that they were putting in place the enabling works for a future transition to an import terminal. Petroineos have not taken a decision on when refining operations will cease but they anticipate they will continue until at least May 2025. The impact of a cessation of refining operations on UK energy self-sufficiency will depend on the supply and demand for fuels at the time. The Government’s Net Zero policies to increase use of electric vehicles and renewable transport fuels, will progressively reduce demand for conventional fuels. The UK already both imports and exports fuels to balance demand and supply. The Petroineos plans should continue to ensure that customer needs are met.